


Welcome to Riverdale!

by Inconsistentaf



Category: Riverdale (TV 2017)
Genre: Abandonment, Big Brothers, Dark Betty Cooper, Dysfunctional Family, F/M, Family Dynamics, M/M, Mental Health Issues, Mystery, Possessive Behavior, Protectiveness, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-05
Updated: 2020-04-23
Packaged: 2021-02-19 01:21:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 18,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22569667
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inconsistentaf/pseuds/Inconsistentaf
Summary: Charles Smith had always wanted to have his own family. He had always wanted to be the kind of big brother that any sibling would want. He wanted to be the perfect son, and he wanted to marry the love of his life, Chic. But first, he wants his little sister's approval. He wants Betty's approval more than anything. He doesn't know why, but Charles immediately connects with Betty. But Betty wants nothing to do with him, because his boyfriend impersonated him and killed somebody in their home. So, Charles needs to get Betty to accept him or he will never have the family he had only ever dreamed about. Oh, and to top off Charles' problems, his paternal half-brother is dating his maternal half-sister and that really bugs him too for some reason. Shouldn't. But it does.(HUGE SPOILERS FOR MOST RECENT EPISODES OF RIVERDALE)
Relationships: Alice Cooper & Betty Cooper, Alice Cooper/FP Jones II, Betty Cooper & Jughead Jones, Betty Cooper & Original Charles Smith (Riverdale), Betty Cooper/Jughead Jones, Chic (Riverdale) & Betty Cooper, Chic/Original Charles Smith (Riverdale)
Comments: 18
Kudos: 46





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Ughhh...Riverdale is a trainwreck that I can't stop rubbernecking. Regardless...I'm hooked. I hate the endless potholes, but I am working with what I remember from the show. I can re-watch season 3. I just can't. So, bear with me. 
> 
> Also, I have no clue what is up with Charles and Chic. Clearly, they gay or bi or whatever, but definitely in a relationship. I would guess their romance has only recently been renewed, because it didn't seem like Chic was just able to call up Charles. 
> 
> I really want to believe that Charles isn't helping Chic frame the Cooper's for a murder that he committed. Its just *spoilers from the show* the way Charles has been presented and that very brief conversations they shared at the end of the episode "hereditary". Chic wanted to know if Betty was "appropriately grateful" in Charles's words. So, I almost want to think that maybe Chic has overall good, but also conniving plans. 
> 
> Like, I think Charles and Chic actually like the Coopers. I think Chic really liked Alice, and to an extent Betty. I mean he was scared of her at the end, and she totally sent him off to be murdered by the Blackhood. But, Hal spared him. Which makes me think that Chic wants to force himself into the Cooper family through Charles. And Charles I think really wants to be apart of their family too, because he's had trauma. 
> 
> So, I don't know what's going on in Riverdale or with Chic/Charles storyline. It's interesting though. I just wanna know what they are getting out.
> 
> I do not own Riverdale, Archie Comics, the CW, or any of its characters or storylines. Just writing some fan fiction.

Chic had been released. Charles could finally be with Chic again. Charles and Chic had a long, complicated history together. They had met each other on the streets shortly after Alice had rejected him on her doorstep, he had turned to narcotics. Jingle Jangle. Whatever, Chic could help Charles get his hands on. They had ended up living together, feeding each other’s habits. 

But then they had an argument. An argument that resulted in Charles abandoning Chic after they had physically brawled. Chic had killed a man, a man who had been lying in their bed. Charles had managed to get everything cleaned up, but afterwards they fought. Chic had been messed up, but Charles was pissed. So he left. Charles knew that he needed to clean up his act or he was gonna end up dead. So, he changed everything about himself. Went to college. Went to NA. Got an internship at the FBI, and quickly worked his way up the ladder. He was young for a field agent, but when Charles wasn’t numbing his mind with narcotics. He was absolutely brilliant, and driven. He had a real knack for serial killers. 

So, when he had gotten a call from Chic in Riverdale. He was surprised to say the least. Chic explained how he had inserted himself into the Cooper household when Alice had found Chic at their old apartment looking for Charles. Charles hadn’t commented about how crazy it was that Chic was still living in their same apartment they had shared before he disappeared. Or how crazy it was that Chic chose to impersonate him. Charles had wanted to know how Chic had discovered where he was? He had left Chic passed out and in a haste with blood all over the apartment. Chic couldn't have known or remembered what had happened the night they fought. Chic’s response was brief. Hal Cooper. Alice’s husband had been keeping tabs on him. 

Chic caught him up on everything. He explained how he had convinced the Cooper’s that he was Alice’s son. How he was still stealing, dealing, buying, and distributing drugs, among other things. How he had defended himself and protected Alice against a drug dealer, that resulted in his death, in the Cooper's home. He told Charles about how Alice, Betty, FP, and Jughead all helped him to cover up the murder. How Betty had refused to trust or forgive him following the altercation, even though Alice had.

Then, Chic told Charles that Betty had planned to have him killed, because Betty believed that Chic had killed Charles. And at the time, Chic hadn't known if he had actually killed Charles, but he knew that he must have hurt him that night. Then Betty had released the town’s serial killer on him, so that he could never do what he was doing now. Telling people what happened. Chic also mentioned that he may or may not have threatened Betty with exposing her, and Alice for the murder since they had done most of the work getting rid of the body. Chic in hindsight could understand why Betty might have used her serial killer father as an excellent resource to eradicate him. 

Chic then detailed about how Betty had given him a head start. That when the towns serial killer, the Blackhood, had finally caught up to Chic he had decided to spare him. That the Blackhood had wanted to find a use for him, as long as he gave him his loyalty. 

“Who is the Blackhood?” Charles had asked him. 

Chic’s response was brief. Hal Cooper. Alice’s husband. Betty and Polly’s father, and the only man who knew where to find him. Shit, Charles had thought. 

So, Chic was involved in criminal dealings with the husband of his biological mother, and father of his two younger half-sisters. Charles wanted to know why Chic was telling him all this and why he was reaching out now. Well, Hal had given Chic, Charles contact information, following his sentence to prison. Chic told Charles that there was still several things he needed to do before he left Riverdale. That Chic still had feelings for him, and the Blackhood withstanding, the Cooper family was nice. Especially Alice. Betty was problematic. And Polly was crazy. Not to mention his half-sister was dating his half-brother on his father's side. It was a lot of information to take in. 

Regardless, of how many years it had been since Charles had really thought about his relationship with Chic. Charles knew he would always love him. They had gone through so much shit together. Charles told Chic that he needed to think about first. However, when a case-file landed on his desk regarding a place called the Farm, in Riverdale, under investigation for being a black market for organs; Charles knew it was a sign for him to return to Riverdale. To see Chic, and the biological family that Chic had conned. 

Charles explained to Chic in their second phone call, that they would not be able to see each other until after the Farm’s investigation was over and dismissed. That he was being sent to Riverdale on a job, and that he was gonna be working with agents day in and day out until they had infiltrated the Farm. Charles had warned him that it might take months. Chic was disappointed, but said that there were plenty of things keeping him busy while Charles was focused on the farm. Charles had to wonder what Chic could possibly be up to with Hal Cooper being in prison, but decided that Chic had to take care of himself and his own problems in the meantime. Asking questions only made him get a migraine. 

As soon as Charles explained his connection to the Cooper family in Riverdale, he got the blessing from the agency to reach out to Alice. Only Alice. Alice was a leading resident in her community, had extensive control of the media coverage in Riverdale, and a personal connection to the Farm. Alice’s oldest daughter, and Charles’ half-sister Polly was an avid follower of the farm. Polly had been actively trying to recruit both Alice and Betty to the Farm, but only Alice had taken a chomp at the bit. Betty was resilient to the Farm’s manipulative cult-like operations. Charles had to admit it was impressive. Charles had watched one-by-one as the naive residents of Riverdale succumbed to Edgar Evernever’s charms. But not Betty. Not his little spitfire of a sister, Betty. 

Alice had been devastated when he revealed himself to her. She had broken down crying and begged Charles for his forgiveness from when they first met. She had told him that she thought he was dead, and how his rejected face had haunted her every night. Charles had told her that it wasn’t her fault, that he had never even told her who he was. That she probably wouldn’t have dismissed him in the first place if he had, had the courage to tell her without taking no for an answer. After their reunion, Charles had explained to Alice what was really happening at the Farm. Charles had hoped she wasn’t already too brainwashed. 

To Charles relief, Alice had already suspected foul play, and she had only wanted to stick around to protect Polly and her grandchildren. Alice had even decided at that moment to willingly volunteer as an undercover agent since she already had solid rapport with Edgar. Charles hadn’t necessarily wanted to put Alice in danger, but this investigation was his job. Yeah, he had been pulled back to Riverdale because of Chic’s call, and he still needed to figure out what exactly had happened between Chic and the Coopers, but her help could really move the investigation along. So, Charles had accepted. 

Alice had desperately wanted to include Betty, but Charles told her that she couldn’t. Alice had argued that Betty was brilliant, and never once fell for a single word the Farm preached. Charles had to admit that Betty could have been an asset, but she was a bigger asset for not knowing about the FBI investigation. Betty’s personal disdain for the Farm, and the love she had for her family was better utilized by her lack of awareness on the FBI’s efforts. Betty was a distraction for Edgar. Betty got under his skin, or so Alice had explained to Charles. If she knew that the FBI was involved, then she might have backed off. If Betty backed off, then Edgar wouldn’t be working so hard to brainwash her. 

So, surprisingly, Alice had respected his orders as her “handler”, while she was working undercover. By forcing Alice’s silence about the Farm to Betty, Alice had been forced to isolate Betty. Alice and Charles had even decided that in order for Alice to really show her loyalty to the Farm, she needed to sell their home, and take Betty’s college fund and give it to Edgar. 

Edgar had been pushing for Alice to give more. To show that she really knew what the Farm was about. Giving him Betty’s savings for college would be the ultimate sacrifice of Alice and Betty’s relationship. Alice knew that Edgar wanted her to push her daughter away in hopes she would either join or give up. Charles considered the risk of Alice causing that much harm to Betty, and decided that Betty was a strong girl. She would make it through. So, they took Betty’s savings to give to Edgar, with the promise that the FBI would reimburse Betty for the loss when the investigation was over. 

Then, they sold the house. Alice had been distraught by Edgar’s request. But she had to put it on the market. Alice had prayed there wouldn’t be buyers for a while, but she knew that she needed to move in with the Farm. For more intel. If she sold her house, and gave Edgar the money, then Edgar would reward her. He would reward her with intel on the market, because he would trust her. Betty wasn't a threat, she was just a teenager, and she would have to listen to her mom. Well, to Charles surprise she wouldn't even consider moving in with the Farm. 

Charles could admit that it was quite weird when his biological fathers, ex-wife bought Alice’s home for all of them to live in. Betty was always welcome in the Jones’s home, but Betty also chose to stay with Veronica Lodge. Charles watched his maternal half- sister become a couch jumper, while in a relationship with his paternal-half brother in the house that was now owned by his paternal father’s ex-wife. Charles had no clue what he did to deserve this as he typed up his daily reports. Charles often had to report on the status of his biological family, but mostly Alice and Betty. Betty was an unwitting pond in this whole charade, and Charles would sometimes think about how Alice’s abandonment was affecting her. 

It was a sick thought. Charles had been abandoned by Alice. Now, Alice had abandoned Betty. Alice took away Betty’s money and roof. Stolen away all of a mother’s protection. Charles hadn’t been raised by very loving people. The Sisters of Quiet Mercy was a twisted place that did twisted things to you. Alice had sent Polly there. She had sent Betty there. She had sent him there. Alice meant well. She really did. 

Although, Betty was taking everything in stride. Charles had expected her to give up on her mom and sister, or cave into the Farm and their manipulations. She never did. 

Neither, Edgar or Charles could have guessed that Betting losing her savings and house would make her even more determined to help not only her family, but her friends from the farm as well. Charles had been struck to his core when Alice had reported all the different ways Betty was trying to infiltrate the farm. Betty couldn’t have and didn’t know about the Evernever’s black market scheme, but she was one of the only people in Riverdale who knew something was wrong with the Farm. Charles couldn’t help the smile that came to his face, when Alice told him that Betty had sent in Cheryl Blossom with a bug, or when she told him how Betty had managed to steal Alice and Polly’s “testimonies”. 

Alice had refused to tell them what was in her testimony. Alice pleaded the 5th, which made Charles suspect that her testimony probably had to do with Chic. Charles figured that was a problem for a later date.

Betty was doing almost as much as the FBI was, and the only difference was that Betty was on Edgar’s radar, and not the FBI. Betty had recruited her friend and Cheryl’s girlfriend, Toni Topaz to help Cheryl break out of the Farm’s hypnosis, but Toni quickly succumbed to it. Later, Alice told Charles that they were going to use Toni to corner and indoctrinate Betty into the Farm. 

This was concerning news to Charles, because Betty was brilliantly deflecting Edgar off of the FBI’s scent. But also, she was his little sister....Betty may not have known about Charles, but he knew about her. After watching Betty for months, Charles could honestly say that he had grown to care about her. He had even told Alice what to tell Betty about him, so that her words might give Betty more clues about the farm. Or confuse her more. 

Charles thought Betty deserved that much. If anything he was only giving her more clues about the farm without being too direct. He doubted Betty would understand until she experienced Edgar’s hypnosis for herself. 

Either way, Charles hadn’t known how to protect Betty for when Edgar planned to corner and hypnotize her. Charles consulted with his team if there was anyway they could do anything. In the end, they had all agreed if she could fight it then good for us and her, and if she couldn’t then it was a sorry loss. Betty was one of the best and brightest young individuals that the FBI had ever seen, and even they couldn’t protect her.

Charles had thought it was difficult watching Alice be compromised everyday, but she was taking that risk. Betty wasn’t supposed to be taking the kinds of risks she was. She was trespassing property, stealing property, from a member of the FBI most wanted list. She was absolutely fearless, and completely clueless. The things that Edgar could do to her. The things that Edgar had done to people. For their organs. Charles had to deal with the guilt of knowing that he couldn’t help his little sister, but that pain was nothing compared to when he helplessly watched Edgar Evernever manipulate Betty. 

Alice had the room bugged. They had audio and visual sound of the entire encounter. How he was manipulating Betty. The way he got the room to chant in hushed tones. Then, Charles saw it. The pause. He could feel his colleagues hold their breath to see what she would do. Charles had been holding his breath in as well. Then, a second later Betty snapped out of it and she started to run. Charles could help but hear one of his colleagues mutter “atta girl”, while Charles had leapt to his feet. 

“He’s gonna kidnap her!” Charles looked at his colleagues expectantly. Her life was in danger. Edgar was not afraid to butcher people. It was entirely possible that Edgar believed he could get away with murdering Betty. His colleagues remained calm and seated. “Are you telling me that we can’t go get her?” Charles asked. This was the time! This was the moment where he needed to pull her to safety. 

“Our intel believes Betty is currently safe. Even if she gets detained. She’s likely not a murder, Edgar is willing to commit. For the moment” an FBI colleague announced. Charles seemed to take in this new slowly, but eventually loosened his stance. He couldn’t do anything to reveal themselves unless Betty’s life was absolutely on the line. Even then. 

So, Charles had been relieved when he got word that Betty had escaped. Then, Betty kidnapped Alice. That was a problem for Charles. He needed Alice at the farm, and Betty distracting the farm. Now, Betty was doing good at the distracting part, but then the FBI lost their inside man. Charles could only hope that Alice could convince Betty to let her return to the Farm without blowing their FBI cover. 

Thankfully, Alice worked overtime to convince Betty to let her go. Alice had to detail to Charles everything she did and said to Betty. It was cruel. Alice was really dedicated to her task, at the expense of the well-being of her daughter and his sister. It was another twisted thought, but Alice was doing all of this for him. She may have been worried about Polly, and probably still was considering how indoctrinated Polly was according to Alice. But, at some point she had become incredibly dedicated to her job as undercover agent. She would report to him on everything and anything. Betty was along for the ride. 

Alice had spared little thoughts to her daughters feelings. At some point throughout all of this, it was discovered that Betty had been consistently visiting the Black Hood in prison. Her father. The man that Chic was indebted to for sparing his life. Betty was holding herself together, by a string. But she let her mother go. 

Shortly after, her father was assumed dead, with no identifiable body at the scene of the wreck. It led the FBI to believe that Hal Cooper had escaped. Which meant problems for Chic. Problems that Charles was too busy to deal with, because he was dealing with the Farm. And the fact that now his sister’s serial killer father, and mother’s serial killer- ex husband was on the loose probably hanging out with his Chic. 

God. Living in Riverdale was so frustrating. 

So, after all of this...Betty decided to go live at the Farm. She decides to live their way of life. Everyone, but Charles thinks she is a gonner. No, Betty was a fighter. She was just as tough as he was when he was living on the streets. He jumped couches, before he found Chic. He hadn’t let his own parental abandonment affect his grades, and from what intel they had. Betty was ace-ing all of her classes, and dealing with the betrayal of her friends in family. Remarkable in Charles’s opinion. 

The only person Betty sought out was for Jughead. Charles wouldn’t say a word to his colleagues. But every single one of them knew that Charles really wanted that relationship to end. Betty’s phone had been tapped ages ago for her protection, and for Alice’s. Betty and Jugheads conversations were something he never got used to hearing. It wasn’t like they spoke to each other crassly, it was that they were so dedicated to each other. That they needed each other. Betty also spoke Veronica and Archie. 

The FBI had done preliminary research on just about all of Betty’s friends, especially after she recruited Cheryl. It seemed like Archie and Veronica had their own drama that the FBI didn't even want to touch. Although, Charles would never admit it, especially to Betty. But, they got some great intel on Hiram Lodge. 

While Betty was living at the Farm the entire team of FBI agents were holding their breath. Alice had bugged everything she could. The FBI heard and saw everything. It was dead silence as they saw Kevin Keller and Fangs Fogarty drag her across the room to stop her from exposing the Farm. Betty had learned the truth. She was trying to save her friends. 

Charles watched Betty kicked and screamed and pleaded with the boys to let her go. It was one of the most terrifying things he had ever seen in his life. His sister was crying out for help, being manhandled, and all he could do was watch her suffer. Charles had always been jealous of the life he might have led if his mother had kept him. Was this it? Betty was being dragged by her legs by her friends, and then drugged. 

Everyone could guess where they were taking her next. It was by some miracle it was reported that Penelope Blossom had walked into the Farm to see Edgar with some male masked figure. That bought them some time to see if they could get an agent into the compound to rescue Betty. Charles had wanted to be the one to do it, but he was Alice’s handler. He needed to stay away from the action. Besides, he suspected that the Farm would be moving any day now. He needed to remain vigilant with Alice. 

But then, Penelope Blossom walked out. In the arms of an unknown masked boy was Betty in a hospital gown. Penelope had gotten to her in the nick of time. Charles was sure that Edgar would have killed Betty this time around. “We need to follow them,” Charles said to his colleagues.  
“I wll!” his friend Jonathan said. Again, Charles would have liked to have been the one to follow Betty, but needed to remain close to headquarters. 

But it didn’t matter, because the Farm got away with Alice. The rule was that he needed to hear from her first. It was suspected that when they all left out the back door the last time, it wasn't for an evening ritual like they usually did. The Evernever’s had led their entire “flock” to the woods where they probably had transports hidden to get everyone out of town. Poor bastards, Charles had thought. 

Charles had no clue where they were going, because Alice hadn’t had enough time to tell them that they were leaving that night. Charles would later find out that it was because of Penelope Blossom that they left that night. Johnathan returned with what he saw in the woods. Hal Cooper’s death. Betty drinking poison with Veronica. A slim man, with dyed red hair going by the name of Jason Blossom was also arrested. Charles had a gut feeling. It was Chic. Then it was confirmed when he saw the picture of him in the newspaper. 

This made Charles life more complicated, but then again, this was a problem for a later date. Charles still needed to find Alice. So, now...it was time. He needed to tell Betty. After everything she had gone through, with her father killed in front of her, and her mother missing as undercover agent, everyone thought she deserved the truth. 

So, he went to the formerly Cooper, Jones’ house, and told Betty and Jughead the truth. They took it really well. It was weird for Charles though. He had been watching Betty for months now. Watching almost everything going on around her, and now he was talking to her. It was nice to speak to Jughead too, but there was something about Betty. She was different to him. The FBI had only vaguely been interested in Jughead’s business, but Betty was out there doing the “Lord's” work. 

Sure, Jughead was brilliant, but damn Betty had really impressed him. She was a fighter. Like him. Alice had kicked them both down. Abandoned both of them. Instead of cowering to weak hypnotic suggestion, Betty fought it. He was awestruck by their similarities. Betty and Charles were so alike. He admired her strength. He wanted to look out for her, even though she really didn’t need him too. 

Charles was extremely touched the moment Betty offered to help him with the Farm case. He knew she would give them her help willinging, but hearing her volunteer to work with him on the case still made him incredibly happy. He wasn't sure why. Maybe because he was going to get the chance to really get to know Betty. Without listening in on her conversations. Or following her from couch to couch. 

Betty and Jughead seemed to take in the weirdness that was Charles. Charles was their shared sibling and a product of both their parents. Betty and Jughead knew that Charles was not going to be a dealbreaker, even if Charles had silently hoped that he would be. They didn’t share DNA, but Charles and them did. 

Charles was nervous, but he only thought it was appropriate due to the unique personal and working relationship he had with Alice to ask Betty if she needed a place to stay. Charles was living in a small 2-bedroom apartment that the agency helped provide while he was staying in Riverdale. Which, he had already decided would be his new, permanent residence. He was going to stay in Riverdale. He wanted to stay with his family, and if he had any luck, he could get the Coopers to maybe put up with Chic. Forgive? Ehh. Put up with? Maybe. Or at least this is what Charles hoped. 

Betty, unsurprisingly, rejected his offer. She was good at the Jones’s house, or with her friend Veronica. Charles understood and told Betty where they could meet the next day to get her statement about her mom, and what had happened with Penelope Blossom and Hal Cooper. 

Betty did meet him alone the next day, and together they worked on finding Alice and the Farm. His entire agency was impressed with Betty, but none of them could act like they knew what had happened to her. She knew that Alice had been giving them intel, but not that they had watched all the horrors she was describing to them. 

Finally, they had managed to track down Alice. Only to deal with Polly be strapped to bomb, and Betty somehow diffusing it like a bad-ass. Betty Cooper was something else. Absolutely something else. Charles wasn’t sure how someone could be this brilliant and intuitive, but he had been the same way. It’s how he went from being a narcotic user to FBI field agent in the span of 7 years. 

Betty also went ahead and gave Kevin Keller information that Charles was not ready to tell him. Oh yeah, Charles was pissed at Betty. FIrst, because she disobeyed him, and secondly it put Alice in danger. Or maybe it was the other way around. Either way. She shouldn’t have done it, but beginners luck was on her side, because Kevid did exactly what he was supposed to do. Betty could inspire loyalty in even the weakest of people if she worked them the right way. It was an interesting observation to make on Charles’ part. 

So, somehow Betty and Charles made a pretty great team. She and Alice both took down the farm like pro’s. Afterwards, his team went home, but Charles was gonna stay.

He wanted to get to know FP more, and Alice when she wasnt working as an undercover agent. He liked Betty. Wanted to keep an eye on her, and all of his siblings. Surely, Polly wasn’t a lost cause. Jellybean was a sweetheart, from the small interactions he had made with her. Jughead and him...well, they liked each other. It was Betty though. Betty he really wanted to have on his side. 

Charles loved Chic, even after everything. Charles also had a soft spot for Betty, but Betty and Chic were not gonna be friends or family for that matter over night.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More insight to Charles.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I own nothing. I don't own any of the storylines I am using from the canonic storylines. I don't own any of the characters. I don't own Archie comics. CW. Riverdale. I don't own jack. 
> 
> Yeah, still wanting to know what this Charles Smith/Chic storyline from Riverdale is.

Charles was sitting up in bed when he felt a soft hand slide up his torso. Charles rolled his eyes in annoyance. He wasn’t in the mood this morning. He had been hiding Chic in his apartment for weeks. “Let's do a quickie” Chic said seductively. Charles was almost tempted with the way that Chic was looking at him, but he had brunch plans. 

Brunch in the Cooper-Jones household. Jughead was coming home for the weekend from Stonewall prep, and Polly had been given a day-pass to see her family under the supervision of an orderlie. So, it was truly going to be the entire family. Charles had been incredibly nervous. 

Following the events of the Farm and Charles’ choice to stay in Riverdale, Betty had grown withdrawn. Alice and FP had been actively making an effort to get to know him though. So, while Betty and him had grown significantly closer throughout their investigation into the Farm, he had rarely spent as much time in the company of Jughead or Jellybean. Besides, Jughead and Betty had made it clear without words that it was weird for them when they acted like a couple in front of him. 

So, when Jughead went off to Stonewall, Charles was fairly happy with the news. It would mean that he could see Betty more, without the awkwardness of her and Jugheads relationship. Charles also was given the opportunity to bond with Jellybean, but they just didn’t click. It didn’t mean he didn't think of her as his little sister. He did.

Charles had this huge new family now. He had 3 sisters and a brother. And his sister was dating his brother, which was weird to say out loud, with ever constant explanation that his brother and sister did not share blood with each other just him. But, they were his family. Charles had always wanted a family a real family. He wanted to build one with Chic without losing what he had always wanted. 

Charles had always wanted siblings. Real siblings. He had 4 of them now.

Polly, his oldest sister, was sick in the head. Charles was unsure if Polly and him would ever have a normal or healthy relationship. Polly had been so devoted to the Farm’s cult, and while she had been hypnotized, manipulated, and abused, he had pitied her naivety. Charles had had a tough upbringing, and while he had done many bad and questionable things. Such as helping his boyfriend cover up a murder. Charles could see through Edgar Evernever’s bullshit from 100 miles away. 

Charles admired the strength in those who are constantly knocked down. Then, on his father’s side, there was Jughead and Jellybean. Jughead and Jellybean had been kicked down by both FP and their mother. Jughead had once candidly told Charles about the things that he and Jellybean had gone through in the past few years. FP, hadn’t always been a good dad. Jughead had been homeless, and when he wanted to be with his mom and Jellybean, his mother had turned him away. 

Jughead had praised his friend Archie and his father Fred, who had passed away that summer, for taking him in. Charles had felt a similar kinship with Jughead as he had with Betty when Jughead had talked about being abandoned by his father. Perhaps, he would have experienced the same thing growing up with FP. 

Charles could not place what it was about Jughead that bothered him. Jughead was a good writer. He was a good kid. He treated Betty well. Betty. That was what Charles didn’t like about Jughead. Charles had thought he could get past their relationship and look at them as individuals. But, it was hard to deny that Jughead bugged Charles due to the protective feelings he had for Betty. 

Charles had always had a protective and possessive personality. It was the darkness in him. The darkness that brought him back to Chic. The darkness that craved for a family to love him and them back. 

Charles would often think about how Chic had told him that Betty had let the Black Hood loose on Chic, because she believed that Chic had killed him. Charles thought it was messed up, but it had made him surprisingly happy and she slowly began to spark the protectiveness in him . Charles could definitely feel his protective instincts extend to his parents and siblings, including Jughead. Although Betty had inspired the most loyalty out of him. He did not want to see Jughead to hurt Betty, because if Jughead hurt Betty, then Charles was afraid he would hurt Jughead. 

So, when Jughead left for Stonewall Prep, Charles took as many opportunities as he could to cultivate their relationship.He had asked her multiple times if she wanted to go to Pop’s and grab a burger, but she either never responded or replied that she was too busy. He understood better than anyone how busy Betty was, but he still wanted her to make time with him. 

Another thing that Charles was reckoning with following Jugheads departure, was his choice to continue surveillance on Betty. The FBI figured if he was planning to stay in Riverdale, he should ensure the safety of his family following the fallout of the farm. Although, Halloween night proved that what he was doing for Betty was in her best interest. Jughead had gone radio silent on her, and it wouldn’t be until the next morning when they had found out why. 

Polly had been calling her from the hospital pretending to be the Blackhood. Charles had wanted more than anything to knock on the door and tell her not to be scared, because no one was going to hurt her. It was just Polly. Unfortunately for Charles, he needed to go about comforting her in a different way. It looked like Jughead had bailed on her which at the time had rubbed Charles the wrong way, but it also wasn't the priority. 

So, Charles had shown up at her door with pizza in hand. It was gonna be a “casually in the neighborhood with some pizza and though I would just stop by” kinda visit. Betty had answered the door with a fireplace stoker, and he knew he had shown up just in time. Betty thankfully was honest, and he offered to help Betty track the call. The call he already knew was coming from Polly. Afterwards, Charles had even convinced her to join the junior FBI academy he had been given permission to teach in an effort to get Betty to join. 

The FBI liked his sister. They had encouraged Charles' to pursue a relationship with Betty in order to recruit her. Charles was not trying to manipulate her for the purpose of the agency he worked for. He had wanted to build a relationship regardless of the promise they saw in her.

After seeing how incredible she was and intuitive in class, the FBI wanted her to work with her even more. So, when Betty didn’t get accepted to Yale, many of his colleagues were shocked by the school’s decision. Most of them had suspected that perhaps the pool for Yale applicants was a group of students even more impressive than Betty. Which had been hard to believe in Charles’ opinion. 

Things had been really good between Charles and Betty after she had started the Junior FBI program, but then she decided to confront Chic about him.  
Before Chic had been released for both good behavior and mental incompetence. Chic had to be deemed mentally incompetent. So, when Betty had gone behind Charles back to talk to Chic, Chic had decided that he wanted to send a message to Charles by reporting Alice and Betty for the murder they helped clean up. Charles would have kicked Chic’s ass if he had only been in arms reach. 

Charles had discovered what Chic had reported after taking the lie detector test with Betty. He had been displeased with Betty going to speak to Chic behind his back, especially after everything, but he had to admit she had gotten him to admit to some things he knew would need to be addressed at some point. He admired her tenacity and information seeking, but resented he had to do it to him. 

He hadn’t lied to her. Chic had killed the man. He had helped clean it up. He did have a drug problem in the past. He was a different man though. He may still have feelings for Chic, but he would be in control this time. 

Following his talk with Betty he was told about Chic’s report to the FBI. They said they had to take the case, but they were not going to send someone out there until the next day due to a backlog at the office. It had bought Charles time to finally see Chic after months of being in Riverdale and avoiding any suspicious visits to the prison. 

The first time Charles saw Chic since the day Charles had left him had been way less romantic than either of them probably wanted. “Why would you do that?” Charles had asked Chic. Chic had just smiled at him in the way that Chic did when he thought he was being cute and clever. It was like Chic knew Charles would finally come to him.

“Well, they won’t find anything if there isn’t a body where I said there was, will they?” Chic asked him like Charles was the stupid one. Charles glared at him, but mulled over what Chic was saying to him between the lines. Charles could help his family, gain their trust, clear them of murder, and help Chic look like he was mentally incompetent. Charles looked over at Chic, and seriously considered if Chic was mentally incompetent. Charles quickly thought through all the stories he had heard in the last few months and decided that that, his boyfriend, was most definitley incompetent. Mentally or otherwise. 

Although, it had been clever of Chic to call the FBI instead of the police. Charles was probably not meant to be told about the accusation against his mother, but because it was Riverdale, he was told. It seemed like Chic knew that would happen.

Charles had to admit the prison system in Riverdale was some of the most flawed he had ever seen. Archie Andrews had been convitcted of murder, escaped prison, moved to Canada, was mauled by a bear, and then came home. To just go back to high school. Chic being released for good behavior was not unlikely. 

Chic’s plan was simple even without Chic saying more than a sentence. Chic would be released on good behavior, and for turning in a murderer and solving a missing person case. If the FBI found the body. Problem was, Betty, Alice, FP, and Jughead had all been involved in the cover up, and would be arrested, thereby Charles would lose his family. Minus Polly and Jellybean. The crazy one and the kid. 

If the FBI didn’t find the body, then Chic’s claim is invalidated and he is deemed mentally incompetent with good behavior. Either way he can get out. Body or no body. But by saying anything about the body he had put Alice, Betty, FP, and Jughead at risk. Mostly Alice, but Betty would be a big concern too. The body would need to be looked for by the FBI, but there was still enough time for Charles to take care of the body and protect his family. 

Charles had to be careful with his temper. He knew that everything was gonna work out okay, but he had to be adamant about the severity of Betty’s actions. Betty had gone behind his back, because she lacks the ability to trust people. Charles could not blame her, but she was his sister. He would protect her. Like a big brother should. He would protect this whole family. Like a good son should.   
So, he told Alice, FP, and Betty what happened. No reason for Jellybean to know. Charles asked them if they remembered where the body was, so that he could help properly dispose of the remains. FP and him decided to go out on their own leaving Betty and Alice behind. Nothing like good ole father and son bonding by covering up a murder. 

But hey, this was Riverdale. 

Betty and Alice were still up when Charles and FP returned. Charles could not have been more pleased with what Betty had told him. She had told Charles that he didn’t have to leave. That it meant a lot to her that Charles would put himself in danger to protect “their” family. It was what Charles had been waiting for. He wanted Betty to accept his protection. To accept the familial standing he had in her life. 

Charles was Betty’s big brother. It was his responsibility to look out for her best interests. There were things she did not know about, and he needed to protect from those things. Betty is a fiercely independent woman who doesn’t need anyone, which Charles thinks is why he wants to protect her the most. She doesn’t need or want someone like him in her life, but he thinks she needs someone exactly like him. 

He had never loved someone like he did with Betty. A sisterly affection. An affection for a girl that wasnt even a little romantic, but remarkably strong. As a foster kid, Charles had only ever developed his deep possessive and protective instincts towards those he was attracted too. Most of the boys and maybe a few girls experienced the type of love that Charles gave. 

Charles knew that his lonely upbringing made his version of love more twisted. His more possessive instincts come from Charles’s desire to own. Charles likes to own the people he loves. For most of his life, the only things that he loved were the few toys he owned as a child. He didn’t care about his foster parents, or siblings, or anyone from the Sisters of Quiet Mercy...Charles only cared about the toys he owned, and would not share. 

Charles had had toys stolen from him before. Which had spurred the protective instincts. He needed to protect what he owned, and what he owned was his family. Charles had always dreamed about his family in his head. He dreamed of his blonde mother and his dark haired father. He had dreamed that he would make them so proud. He would be an All-American boy! Charles had thought about all the sports he would have played and how smart he would have been and he would go to Ivy and his parents would support him. 

So, for Charles, owning his parents would be by following all the tropes of making them proud. By being the perfect son, with perfect grades, and an amazing athleticism that would make him the most popular boy. His imaginary parents didn’t care that he was gay. Well, Charles was bisexual with heavier leanings towards men, but he knew some very pretty women too. EItherway, they didn’t care and he was perfect. 

His imaginary family also included siblings. He had a younger brother and sister. He had pictured someone more like Archie Andrews as his brother. Another All-American archetype that would look up to him. A brother that would perhaps never live up to Charles, and always be in his shadow. He wanted a brother who looked up to him and admired him. They would share the same interests, but they would never quite be equal. It was twisted, but it's what Charles had always wanted.

Charles thought about his own relationship with Jughead and thought about their similarities. They were both smart. Jughead would probably not be called athletic, but he certainly was a talented writer and smart kid. Jughead was also a leader in his own right. Charles knew that Jughead had been deemed “Serpent King”, by the gang that called themselves the Serpents. Jughead was king of the gang by birthright. FP had initially been the Serpent king. 

Charles had done a lot of research on Riverdale and his family. Although, Charles was still secretly hung up about the Serpents. His parents, Alice and FP, had both been serpents. FP had led the Serpents, until Jughead was pulled into the fray, where he followed the protocol for his initiation into the gang. Then, Betty had joined too. 

Charles pencil had snapped when he had been interviewing a citizen who had been at the bar the night Betty had stripped for the Serpents. For a female Serpent, their initiation is to strip on stage, and Betty had done just what their mother had done to join the Serpents. Charles, wondered if he should have been king. He was born of 2 serpents, like Jughead. He was also older than Jughead. And he would never have let Betty do the ritual in the first place. 

Charles knew that his position in life as an FBI agent would forever inhibit him from partaking in the family “business” that was the Serpent gang, but Charles had to wonder if the title of King should have been his. Charles knows that he was the one to take over the family business in his dream family. 

His imaginary sister was just like Betty though. A strong willed, independent, spitfire of a sister who did not need his help. But would always find herself in the position of needing his help anyway. He would have always helped his sister out, including protecting her from boyfriends, or anybody who would hurt her. His imaginary sister would have never wanted his hellp, but Charles' job was to be there whether she liked it or not. An older brother had to be. 

Charles had finally gotten a real family. He could also be with Chic, but he had to ease that in slowly. For now, he was still working on winning over Betty. He had watched her on the quiz show and had only shown up so that Betty could see that Charles was taking his role in the family very seriously. He wanted to be there to cheer her on. 

It had also made Charles happy when she had asked him to look into Brett, and her yale application. The level of trust, and need for Charles help was exactly why he wanted to stick around in Riverdale. She was starting to come to Charles for help because she trusted him and knew he had the resources to do it. It made him feel good that she felt that level of trust towards him. It is what he was working towards. 

Chic had rolled back over why Charles got dressed in a casual outfit. He did always want to appear so professional in his FBI suit. He was a relaxed guy, and everyone was going to be at the brunch today. 

Charles was incredibly nervous when he rolled up to the house, and walked up to the door. So, when the door was opened before he knocked by Betty he was surprised. 

“We saw you park from the window, and this is just a warning, but this might be the most awkward brunch you have ever had.” Betty explained moving out of the way to let him in. Charles chuckled at her honesty, because he appreciated her showing her vulnerability. She was nervous about brunch, but he was gonna play it cool. 

When Charles walked in Polly was sit on the couch with a female orderlie, while Jughead was sitting opposite seemingly talking with Polly and the orderlie. Alice came out carrying what appeared a casserole and called out “Oh, Charles good you are here! Jellybean just finished setting the table and I think we are all ready to eat!” and then walked back into the kitchen. Betty gestured with her hand that she would follow me toward the dining room. The table which comfortably set 6 was now set for a tight 8. Alice and FP were on either end, then Polly, the orderlie, and Jellybean sat on one side and then it was Betty, Charles, and Jughead. 

Alice insisted that Charles sit between Betty and Jughead since he was the guest of honor and should be in the middle. Besides, she might have figured watching Charles sit next to his siblings playing footsies and touching each other would be a little too weird. 

It was unlikely that Jughead and Betty would actively put on any PDA next to Charles in such close proximity, but they didn’t complain and just took a site on either side towards their respective parents.   
After everyone had served themselves and was eating, Alice decided to attempt a conversation. “So, Polly you haven’t really met Charles, but he is your brother. Not like that imposter Chic. He is the real deal”. Polly seemed to consider this and then her eyes flashed across the table to her sister almost silently asking Betty to confirm it. 

It seemed that Polly did trust Betty’s discretion regardless of all the things Polly had done to thwart Betty’s attempt to save her from the Farm. Betty’s eyes flicked over to Charles briefly in a way that showed she felt uncomfortable with the silent ask from her sister. Betty just gave a short, but distinct nod that indicated that yeah, Charles wasn't a threat. 

Charles definitely did not consider himself a threat. He knew that Chic had caused his family a ton of grief. It was going to be a problem when Charles shared his relationship with his family, but he needed to build a little more trust. He would need to defend his honor to her when Betty inevitably questioned Charles’s motives considering his relationship with Chic. 

“Well, it’s nice to meet you Charles. I heard you helped bring down the Farm.” Polly said finally looking over at him before the Orderlie gently touched Polly’s hand and gave her a look. 

“We are not going to talk about the Farm, Polly” the orderlie said with a firm voice. The table visibly grew stiffer with the mention of the Farm. Polly had tried to blow them up. Betty had saved them. It showed how remarkable she was, and proved that he needed to step up as her brother. Betty was hard to protect, because she doesn’t need to be except when she really, really does. 

The rest of brunch had been timid, but they had all talked about one thing or another. It was nice. Charles had dreamt and imagined family breakfasts like this as a child. This was different from what he imagined, but this was real. He had a mother and father now. Two parents who were trying to make up for their past mistakes. He had 3 little sisters. He would need to protect them. He would protect Jughead too. He may be the Serpent king, but Charles had more power than all of them.

Charles was an FBI agent. He could protect them from all the trouble that they were experiencing. Betty had many, many secrets that he could save her the consequences from. The murder just being the tip of the ice berg. 

He would protect them. They would love him. He would have the family he always wanted. He would have Chic. He would have Betty. He would own all of them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let me know if you want more, by leaving kudos or comments. Thanks!


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> HUGE SPOILERS FOR CURRENT EPISODES OF RIVERDALE. 
> 
> I own nothing. I own no characters. No storylines. Nothing. Just taking canon information and twisting it into a fanfic with my own series of events.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AGAIN, HUGE SPOILERS ABOUT THE 'MURDER' of JUGHEAD.

Charles had been asleep when he got the phone call from Betty that had changed the course of their relationship. It had been just before Chic was released from prison, and just what Charles needed to secure Betty’s trust, thereby getting everybody’s trust. If Betty trusted them, then they all did. 

“Charles! I’m in the woods with Archie and Veronica. Jughead, he’s hurt really badly, we need help. We need your help, please!” Betty’s panic was seeping through her voice. Charles immediately sprung into action and told her where they needed to bring Jughead. He got the med team on the phone and told them where they needed to be with the med-van. He had no idea what to expect, but it probably wasn’t good from the sound of Betty’s voice. 

Betty, along with Veronica and Archie carrying a limp Jughead arrived shortly after they did at the meeting spot. “What happened” Charles asked. Betty explained that it was a head wound as the medics began to work on Jughead. Charles knew there wasn’t much time, but if they wanted to evade any trouble they needed to get out of their bloody clothes and clear the scene. Which they did. 

Charles saw the shock that Betty was experiencing, but he knew it was not the time or place to start asking her questions. Charles had followed the med-van to their makeshift emergency room at the FBI’s Riverdale location. He was in a medical coma for the time being. It was obvious that the cause was a blunt force object to the head. A rock or bat most likely being the culprit. 

The next day, Betty told Charles everything that happened. Jughead specifically told her not to take him to the hospital before he passed out, and Charles agrees that the preppies may have had something to do with Jughead’s injury. Why Betty was there and holding the rock was a mystery for another time. Right now, Jughead needed to survive and Betty needed to get the preppies to either confess or give substantial evidence. First, Charles needed to help Betty appear as innocent as possibly by having her be the one to call FP and report Jughead missing. Next, she would need visit Stonewall under the pretenses of looking for Jughead in order to get a bug Brett’s room. 

Unfortunately, the preppies played a good game. They said nothing that implicated them, only things that would implicate Betty, and then proved they knew where the bug was all along. Their next problem was when FP called to tell Betty that a bloody rock had been found in the woods. Charles thought it was an amateur mistake, but he could hardly blame Betty. Betty needed his help more than ever. Jughead was still in a coma, and the “murder” weapon was found. Her DNA and his would be on the rock. 

So, Betty asked Charles to lie to FP and tamper with police evidence. Which he did. For Betty. He switched out the real bloody rock for the one that Betty had made using fake blood. Charles knew that it wouldn’t work, but Betty was just buying time and Charles had to agree. Any time they could buy was well worth it until Jughead woke up. Which he might not have. Throughout all of this, the most fundamental question had yet to be answered. What happened before she blacked out and woke up with a bloody rock in her hand standing over Jughead’s body. 

Charles could tell that Betty was unsure of herself. Unsure if she was really capable of hurting Jughead. Charles wanted to reassure her, but Betty, like him, had some sort of darkness. A darkness that made one’s feelings immune to the pain they were inflicting on others. So, Charles was happy to help when she asked him to hypnotize her. They would know the truth if all things worked out. 

Charles had helped Betty with tackling the Farm’s hypnotic suggestion before, but he knew that Betty did not like feeling out of control. They were similar in that sense. Charles whole life was out of his control, so whatever control he could take, he did. Not only did he like to be in control, but he fundamentally needed to be in control most of the time. He felt Betty fit in that category, so her handing him control by letting him hypnotize her was something Charles found himself taking pride in. 

But then, Betty brought Archie and Veronica with her. It was fair, they had both been there when they found Betty with the rock. Charles could not help but take notice of how Archie looked at him with suspicion and caution. Charles could understand, but was he not proving himself to Betty and her friends? He switched the rocks behind FP’s back. He was helping her cover up the crime that all evidence pointed to her, and his loyalty was still question? Well, not for much longer. 

As Charles got ready to hypnotize Betty, a very small part of him had to wonder if it was possible that she was capable of hurting Jughead. Even at his worst, he had never tried to kill Chic. They brawled, sure, but kill? Charles remembered the last night with Chic, before he disappeared. He had been really angry with Chic. Possibly angry enough to kill. He wondered if Betty had really tried to kill Jughead and what would happened if Jughead didn’t pull through? He would have choose his loyalty to either protect Betty or tell FP, his father, the truth about Jughead, thereby incriminating his sister for the death of his brother. Charles wasn’t sure what he was going to do, but every indication told him that he was going to end up protecting Betty. He had already done this much. 

So, it had been a relief when Betty recalled Donna blowing “devil’s breath” into her face. There was no possible way that Betty could have delivered such a blow to Jughead while under that sort of influence. Charles was glad that Betty hadn’t done it, but a part of Charles had to wonder what Betty was truly capable of in her darkest moments. Was she capable of what she seemed to fear she was capable of. Her father was a serial killer, but it was their mother that gave both Betty and Charles the genetically ingrained darkness. It had to have been Alice since Hal was not his father. 

A few hours later, Jughead woke up at the facility. Charles, Archie, and Veronica were all there to witness when Betty had gently flung herself into his arms. Once Jughead had eaten a Pop’s burger that Veronica had generously got him, they all made a plan. Most of the brainwork came from Charles, Betty, and Jughead but Archie and Veronica were valuable to plan as well. 

In order for the preppies to get what they deserved, it was agreed that Jughead had to stay missing. In fact, he needed to be found dead. By FP. That way the preppies didn’t see him coming and try to change their stories. There was no way and no reason to keep FP out of the loop anymore after Jughead was awake. FP would call a search party and they would find Jughead’s “body”. Afterwards, they would do a viewing at the morgue to really sell his death to the preppies. They had to believe he was dead in order to get them to confess to his murder, or as they would find out later, “attempted” murder. 

It was also agreed upon that Betty and Archie would both distract the school and have even further evidence of Jughead’s demise by pretending to date. Charles could feel the discomfort rolling off of Veronica and Jughead. But beyond that, it was a game of chess with the preppies. Any move they made after the search party would have to be countered, but the ball would be in their court. Jughead and Betty both knew that the preppies thought that either Betty and her friends would do the dirty work or Betty’s friends would turn on her. So, finding Jughead would throw them. 

Charles had been tasked with moving Jughead to their secret bunker later that night, after the FBI medics could clear Jughead of any lasting problems. Jughead would remain there until the next evening when FP would call the search party. 

After everyone had left, Charles and Jughead had been sitting back and talking when Jughead all the sudden got quiet on Charles. “I don’t think Betty told you, but there is something else you should probably know” Jughead said after a long pause between them. Charles looked up at Jughead who seemed to be looking at anywhere else but him. Charles was fairly certain that Betty hadn’t hidden anything from him. She trusted him with all of this, so what could she possibly want to hide from him? 

“What? What should I know about?” Charles asked Jughead after he didn’t say anything for a moment. As an FBI agent, Charles, had a remarkable ability to read people. Not as remarkable as Betty was with identifying serial killers based on their features, but still very good. Jughead was uncomfortable with whatever information he thought Charles should know. Charles found himself more disturbed by the fact that whatever it is that Jughead was going to tell him, didn’t come from Betty first. Rationally, Charles probably should not be disturbed that his sister lied to him about something. However, Charles had gone to bat for Betty on several occasions, and he had grown to hate all the secrets that she kept.

Charles could only hope that whatever came from Jughead’s mouth wasn’t another secret that Betty kept. “Brett..he has tapes” Jughead said still not looking at Charles. 

“What kind of tapes? Like the ones where people’s houses were being watched for hours on end?” Charles asked. Jughead shook his head no in response and seemed to take another deep breath before he continued. 

“No, he has tapes of students. Some confessionals from the quill and skull society, but mostly of students…having sex.” Jughead said eventually looking up and at Charles who had been sitting across the hospital bed in a visitors chair. For a long moment. Charles and Jughead just stared at each other, and Charles began to slowly nod his head. 

“You and Betty?” Charles asked trying to not give into the nausea that had his stomach rolling. Charles was not stupid. Charles knew that Jughead and Betty…did things. It did not mean that he liked thinking about what his siblings were doing to each other behind closed doors. It was one thing if Betty had a boyfriend who wasn’t Jughead and Jughead having a girlfriend who wasn’t Betty, but it was a whole other thing because it was each other. Charles could acknowledge that there was nothing truly taboo about their relationship. They shared nothing on the biological spectrum. Well, except Charles. Their brother. 

So, Charles was cursed with being the only one to find their relationship somewhat disturbing. He was the one who had to go home and night, and consider the fact that his little sister was fucking his little brother. Which sounds horrific without context. But the context is the fact that they aren’t siblings, they only share one. 

Jughead nodded in response to Charles’s question. Charles could understand why Betty might have left that out of their conversation. It did not mean he appreciated her withholding information on something as vital and incriminating as a pedophilic sex tape of his siblings floating around Stonewall Prep somewhere. “Can I ask you favor?” Jughead asked when Charles had said nothing. 

“Sure, what is it?” Charles asked clearing his throat and refocusing on the matter at hand. 

“When this is all over, can you make sure that the tape of us doesn’t go into evidence. I want it destroyed. And if Brett refused to tell you where the tapes are, I want you to look the other way while I beat him to a pulp” Jughead said with anger and resolution. Charles could respect this wish. He did not want to see the tape end up in evidence either. Nor did he want the prick, who thought it would be okay to film not only his brother, but also Betty, his sister while they were at their most vulnerable, to get away without a scratch. Charles would do it himself, if he wasn’t an agent and taking the lead on the preppies case. He could look away, sure, but what Charles wouldn’t give to beat the preppies ass into the ground. 

So, the next couple weeks everything went to plan. Jughead and Betty connected the dots and Charles got to work with the FBI so he could make a lawful arrests of not only the students, but Mr. DuPont. Then, Charles got to meet his Grandfather. Charles had spent most of his life dreaming about his perfect family, but he had never really thought about his Grandparents. It wasn’t even until then, that he realized that his Grandfather, father, and brother all shared the family name, Forsythe Pendleton Jones. A name that would have been his, if only Alice had kept him and told FP about him. Charles had been working on not thinking about the “what ifs” so much. It was too late for that now. He needed to fit in the family where he could, and then ease Chic in their too. That was its own future battle. 

Once all the preppies had been arrested it was discovered that the actual girl who hit Jughead over the head had diplomatic immunity. Charles warned her that she would never be allowed back into the states, but she was unphased by his threat. Then, Donna. Donna was good. Donna was smart and knew her story. He couldn’t do much with her testimony. However, it was Brett that Charles was looking most forward to questioning. Charles was going to get him, and the tape. So, as disappointed as Charles was when Brett put up a fight over the tape, he was even more happy when Brett threatened to release Betty and Jughead’s tape. That truly nailed the poor suckers coffin. 

Charles told Brett he would think about his offer, and he left the room. Both Jughead and FP were waiting outside. Charles looked at them and told them he was going to get a “cup of Joe” and then walked away. The door had been left unlocked and the security camera had been for some reason turned off that afternoon. 15 minutes later, Jughead and FP walked out with big smirks and headed home. Charles walked into the room with his coffee and was glad to see that Brett had changed his mind. Bloodied to a pulp as he was. 

Charles was proud of everyone, but especially Betty. She had reached out to him when she was scared and vulnerable. The sick part of Charles’s mind could not help but find her trust to be intoxicating. Betty was smart, and had been put through the wringer. Chic was hardly one of Betty’s biggest problems she had faced in the past few years. So, for Betty to trust Charles as much as she’s shown herself too meant the absolute world to Charles. Alice loved him from the moment they came into each others lives. FP was a harder egg to crack, but even he trusted Charles early on. It was always going to be Betty that gave him the most resistance from any and all indications he had learned from Chic prior to coming to Riverdale. 

So, after everything Charles had done for the Smith-Jones-Cooper household, he wanted only one thing from Betty. Forgiveness. For Chic. It was not a lot to ask for when Betty had asked him to help cover up not one, but nearly 2 murders.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Charles feels like every time he tries to get close to Betty its never good enough and he never gets to tell her how really feels about being a part of the family. 
> 
> Otherwise, the family has pretty much accepted him. Betty's being a holdout.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wrote this on before Ep. 17. I’ll express my thoughts on the musical episode before next chapter if you are even curious. 
> 
> AS ALWAYS I OWN NOTHING. NOT THE PLOT OR CHARACTERS. OR WHATEVER.
> 
> SPOILERS FOR SEASON 4 (thus far) 
> 
> Okay…so, I just want to briefly chat about Riverdale and where I am going with this story. I really like to work within the canonic information from the show that I am able to put my own personal twist on. But, I have literally no clue about what Riverdale’s plans are for Charles and Chic’s characters. I’ve thought about it, and unfortunately I can’t come to a “logical” conclusion. Which is fair, because Riverdale is rarely logical. The only thing for certain is that Charles and Chic do have a romantic history, and the show outright confirmed they have rekindled that romance in the present. Whether it is a real relationship or one of them is tricking the other remains a question. In fact, this plot line leaves us with many questions. 
> 
> What happened the night Charles left Chic (because we all know there has got to be a bit more to that story)? When did Charles and Chic rekindle their relationship? Did they ever actually break up? Did Charles know that Chic was going to impersonate him and when did he find out about Chic impersonating him? Why did Chic tell the police or FBI about the murder that Betty and everyone helped him to cover up, just for Charles to then help them cover THAT up, just for Chic to ask Charles if they were grateful for his help? Especially Betty. 
> 
> Now, this along with Charles listening in on Betty’s phone calls indicate that there is definitely a sinister side to Charles. That is a fact. But pretty much everyone in Riverdale has a “sinister” side, so the question is if Charles will be a flawed but accepted character or if he is gonna be a full blown villain in the show? I want to believe he is deeply flawed, but not a villain. On the other hand, Chic is a villain. But, now that he isn’t scamming the Coopers or working as a henchman for the Black Hood and Penelope Blossom, what exactly does he want? The obvious answer is revenge. Because he is in prison, and Betty helped put him there. Not to mention the time she set the Black Hood loose on Chic. 
> 
> So, if Charles was helping Chic get revenge on Betty and the rest of the family, I still have to wonder why? Betty, Alice, FP, and Jughead all helped cover up Chic’s murder. How can anyone judge a family for being mad at taking in a person lying about their identity? Lastly, Betty wanted Chic gone because 1) he murdered a drug dealer in her house and 2) she thought that Chic had murdered her brother. Standing in Charles shoes, it would be hard not to be more sympathetic to the family, then the boyfriend sitting in prison. Although, what kind of person is Charles? Does he stand with Chic no matter what? It didn’t seem like it since he allegedly bailed on him after he discovered Chic with a dead body in their apartment. 
> 
> So, in conclusion after everything that has happened this season with Charles I do question where his loyalties lie? For the most part, he could have really sabotaged his family in numerous ways but he didn’t. He helped Betty and Jughead take down the preppies, and it almost seems like he actually does like his family, even if there is some part of him that maybe doesn’t like his family. I do not know.

“When are we going to tell them? I hate feeling like your dirty little secret” Chic said as he came up behind Charles in the tiny apartment they had been living in. Chic hadn’t been out of the apartment since he was released from prison. Charles had discreetly transported Chic back to his place where they had been living together. Chic was getting stir crazy which was going to be a problem that Charles feared he would not be able to contain. Charles could lock Chic in their bedroom, but his sensible side acknowledged that it was fire hazard. 

“I am going to tell them, when I am ready to tell them. Until then, you are my dirty little secret” Charles responded as he started making them scrambled eggs for breakfast. Charles could feel Chic pouting being him, but he could not bring himself to care. Chic was only the icing on the cake. Charles still had bigger problems when it came to his family. Sure, everyone had really warmed up to him, but Charles still felt like if he made one wrong move he would ruin everything. So, Chic needed to be as patient as Charles was while he continued to work things out with his family. 

“I don’t understand why you are so afraid of telling them about us? First, you helped them cover up the murder that they helped me cover up, then you help them set up a plot to catch those kids from Stonewall who tried to murder Jughead. I am not even mentioning all the other things you’ve done to help Betty. Yeah, she hates me. She is always gonna hate me, Chuck. No amount of sucking up to Ms. My-little-ponytail will get her to forgive you for loving me. Why can’t you just accept that? I mean, she tried to kill me! Doesn’t that piss you off?” Chic exclaimed. Chic had spoken gently for most of his rant, but had become progressively angrier as he talked about Betty. 

Charles knew it was true. There was no way that Betty or even Alice, FP, and Jughead would ever be able to look past Charles relationship with Chic. Chic was a murderer. Not only was he a murderer, but he had done a significant amount of damage to Charles’ family. He had participated in a ritual that was created to kill his siblings and his friends. Sometimes, Charles wondered what he was doing with Chic. If he let Chic go, then he could be with his family. No problem. If he stayed with Chic, he would to need to fight with and for his family. There was certainly an easy way out. 

“What pisses me off, Chic, is that there is no one to blame but yourself. You weren’t careful, and then you got yourself caught. Chic, I...I do have really strong feelings for you. I want you in my life. I do. But right now, I want them in my life too. So, you can either pack your bags, and I can drop you off at the bus station where you will leave and never come back to Riverdale. Or you can wait in this apartment, until I am damn well, good and ready to take your out of it.” Charles said as he cooked the eggs. 

Charles was not the one to make idle threats. He did like Chic, but Charles was not ready to lose his new-found family as a result for being with him. There had to be a way for him to have both. He understood that Chic being stuck in their tiny apartment wasn’t much better than prison, but there was a television, privacy, and food whenever he wanted it. So, actually it was way better than prison and Chic should probably have been more grateful. As Charles finished plating the eggs and toast, he realized that Chic hadn’t responded. When Charles turned around to bring the food to the table, he saw a very complacent looking Chic. 

“So?” Charles asked as he sat down across Chic to eat, “what’s it going to be?” he asked taking a bite of eggs and staring at Chic expectantly. Charles saw Chic take a deep breath, reach for the fork, and mumble something. “I’m sorry, what was that?” Charles asked with a hint on condescension as he leaned in closer. 

“I’ll stay here” Chic said louder, but with attitude. Charles gave him a smirk in response that seemed to indicate that Charles already knew what his answer was going to be in the first place. The continued to eat in silence when finally Chic spoke up again to asked Charles what his plans were for the rest of the Saturday. Chic knew that Charles could not appear like he was ever busy with someone at home. So, he never had the opportunity to cancel plans or avoid making plans, because as far as everyone knew he was not in a relationship with anybody and had literally no life except for work. 

“I’ve got dinner plans tonight” Charles answered nonchalantly. 

“With who?” Chic asked. 

“Who do you think?” Charles responded. Chic didn’t need to respond further. Charles was going to be at the Cooper-Jones-Smith household. It was where Charles was spending a lot more time at. Charles had only been visiting a couple times a month prior to helping Betty and Jughead take down the preppies, but ever since then, Alice had extended him a lot more invitations. Charles thought it may have had more to do with Betty, than Alice. It was like Betty had give Alice the green light to invite Charles on anything and everything she wanted since Betty wasn’t so afraid of him anymore. 

In fact, after everything that went down with Stonewall, Charles had finally gotten his “big brother” moment with Betty. Charles had given Jellybean, Jughead, and even Polly their “big brother” moments, but he had only ever come close multiple times to having one with Betty. From taking down the Farm, to Halloween, the young FBI recruitment class, Yale, and taking down the preppies he still failed to properly convey his feelings. That Charles really cared about Betty. Like, she had always been his little sister. Not some stranger who he only met a couple of months ago. 

The first “big brother moment” he had was with Polly. It was the brunch where she had been allowed to visit under the supervision of an orderly. Everyone else was pre-occupied with something or someone else and it was just Polly, Charles, and the orderly sitting in the living room. 

“So, Polly, do you have any plans for school, or work?” Charles asked. The orderly gave him the side-eye, but did not ask him to stop talking or for Polly to ignore the question. Polly seemed to think about the question.

“I want to get my kids back. Then, I’m going to leave again” Polly said stone faced. Charles looked at her, nodded, and took a sip of his drink. He knew about Juniper and Dagwood and had to wonder why no one had done anything to get her daughter out CPS and the other child from Cheryl Blossom. If that even was where the kids where. Were they both with Cheryl? Charles could not remember. 

“Well, if you ever need help or anything. You can call me. I’m an FBI agent, so I have some pretty good resources” Charles said vaguely. Charles wasn’t quite sure if he should be supporting her decision or helping her change her decision. Charles knew Polly was going to remain at the facility for quite some time. The Farm had really done some serious damage to peoples cognitive abilities. Not to mention physically with the removal of their organs. 

“I don’t want your help. I was happy. We were happy. You, my mom, and my sister are all traitors-“ Polly started to say when the orderly reached out to grab Polly’s hand to give her a squeeze. It seemed to immediately prevent Polly from continuing her line of thought. She took a deep breath and glared at Charles, and then whipped her glare over to the orderly. 

“I think we are gonna head out now, why don’t you say goodbye to your family” the orderly said gesturing to Charles. The orderly had stood up and brought Polly with her.  
“He is not my family” Polly said bitingly. Charles looked around and saw that their family was either in the kitchen or had gone upstairs and no one was paying them an ounce of attention. Charles gave the orderly a smile indicating to her that he was about to say something to Polly, but he was gonna say it to her as gently as possible. Charles then stood up as well and slowly approached Polly so that he was standing just in front of her, but was not towering over her. Charles then leaned down so that he could whisper in her ear. 

“Actually…I am your family. You know it. I know it. Betty knows it. So, I would get used to having a big brother around, because…I have no plans to leave…and you can’t leave, can you Polly?” Charles asked as he pulled away from her ear and finished with “We’re all hoping you make a speedy recovery”. Charles then fixed himself and looked over at the orderly who was looking over Polly for signs of oncoming abnormal behavior. Polly seemed to hear exactly what Charles had wanted her to hear. She was stuck with him. He was her family whether she liked it or not. If Betty could acknowledge his authenticity, then Polly was fighting a losing battle. She was locked in a facility and he was becoming more of a member of the family every day, while she was becoming less a part of the family every day. 

Polly was caught between loving her family and hating them. She was sick. Well, Charles had his own sickness as well, but Charles had learned to control. Charles knew that Betty had a firm grasp on her sickness as well. Polly had no control or grasp of the disease the plagued her mind while being horrendously exacerbated by the farm. 

While, Polly’s “big brother” moment wasn’t as sweet or gentle as his moment with Jellybean was a week later, he was still glad that he was able to reach Polly with his message. Charles is not only looking out for her, but for the rest of their family too. So, when he was given the chance to give a similar message to Jellybean he took the opportunity. 

It was one week after the brunch, and Alice and FP had both asked him if he was interested in babysitting Jellybean for the night. Betty and Jughead were at Stonewall, and they thought it would be a good chance for them to get to know each other. They had already asked Jellybean if it was okay with her, and while she thought she was too old to be babysat she told her dad and Alice that she didn’t mind if Charles came over. 

So, Charles came over just as he did on Halloween night, with a pizza in tow. Jellybean answered the door with a smile that told Charles that he was neither needed nor wanted, but Jellybean was going to do her best to be a good sport. Charles could appreciate her half-hearted willingness to get to know him. It was more than he could say for some of his other sisters. 

“So, what do you want to do for the rest of the evening?” Charles asked as they started eating their pizza. Jellybean just shrugged her soldiers in response. 

“Play Minecraft?” She offered with a question. Charles smiled at her, because he was very familiar with the game. 

“Yeah, let’s do that” Charles said taking another bite of pizza and moving over to the couch to help get the game set up for the living room. All the sudden he heard a door open and then close shut followed by footsteps making their way towards the stairs. Charles moved to immediately shield Jellybean from the upstairs intruder, while Charles reached for his gun. All the sudden, Betty came into view while noting the defensive position that Charles was standing in. Charles immediately dropped his stance and tried to act like he hadn’t just been about to pull a gun on Betty. Jellybean had been too busy setting up the game to be paying attention to Charles or Betty. 

“Whoa, you okay Charles?” Betty asked as she walked towards the coat rack to grab her purse and jacket. 

“I..I didn’t know you were home. I thought it was just me and Jellybean here” Charles explained only somewhat sheepishly. Jellybean finally looked over at them, only just realizing that Betty hadn’t left for Stonewall yet. 

“I thought you left already” Jellybean said. 

“Well I should have been gone already, but I had a couple of deadlines I needed to get turned in for the Blue and Gold” Betty explained as she put on her jacket. That was when Charles noticed that her hair wasn’t up in her usual ponytail. She had more makeup on than he had ever seen her in. She looked really beautiful. 

“You look nice” Charles said without thinking. He hadn’t meant it in a weird way. It was just, he had never seen this side of the Betty. The side of her that was in a relationship with Jughead. The side of her that she didn’t keep hidden behind her ponytail and inconspicuous makeup. Charles realized that it was almost unnerving to see her like this. Charles realized that he didn’t think he could ever learn to stomach the image of his sister making herself look like that for his brother. So, it was pretty weird when Charles found himself adding, “Do you need a ride to Stonewall?”. 

Betty almost seemed taken aback by both the compliment followed by Charles’ offer to drive her to her “date”. Betty and Jughead had conversed about Charles on more than one occasion. They both understood that their dating situation had to be borderline uncomfortable if not absolutely uncomfortable for Charles. They also understood that Charles was never, ever allowed to be the reason they broke up. They were doing nothing wrong, and Charles knew that they were doing nothing wrong. But along with agreeing that Charles would not be the reason they broke up, they also agreed that they would spare Charles the headache of seeing too much of with their relationship. 

While, Charles had no clue about this agreement, he could acknowledge that Betty and Jughead had always been respectful about their level of PDA around him. It was going to take Charles an eternity to learn to live with swallowing the bitter pill that was his siblings relationship. 

Betty stared at him for a second like she was contemplating his offer, but then she looked down as she shook her head. “No, Charles but thank you. I am good. Archie offered to drive me up there this morning” Betty explained. Charles looked outside and then down at his wristwatch and saw that it had just passed 9:00. 

“It’s kinda late, Betty. I think I should drive you. Just to be on the safe side?” Charles insisted. Charles wasn’t sure why he was so adamant that he drove Betty to Stonewall for her to spend the night with Jughead. Charles had no clue why he would even try to be helping Betty and Jughead instead of sabotaging them like he had secretly wanted to do since the beginning. 

Betty looked at him anxiously and then responded with “No, really Charles. It’s okay. Archie’s safe and he always looks out for me”. That was like a punch to Charles gut. It was just another thing that someone said to him that reminded him of his displaced role in their family. 

Charles should have been the one to be looking out for Betty, not the boy next door. Charles should have been there through everything, but he just wasn’t. Charles had been denied a family his entire life. Finally, he meets his family and they didn’t need him or want him. Well, Alice was certainly trying to make up for lost time and FP and him had been developing a bond. But otherwise, he hadn’t really had much time with many of his other siblings. Besides Betty. Who arguably was still pushing him away due to her inherent distrust. 

Charles nodded his head and decided to back down from offering her again. He was not going to push it. It was not his place to push her. Not yet. Maybe not ever. 

“I’ll see you guys later” Betty said as she walked out the front door and locked it behind her. Charles watched her leave, but then realized he had been staring at the closed door for way too long. 

“Betty’s awesome, but she’s always busy and never really talks about herself” Jellybean said absentmindedly as she started playing Minecraft without Charles. Charles sat next to her and picked up the console to start playing with her. 

“What do you mean?” Charles asked her as he stared playing, but he was more invested in the conversation they were having than the game. 

“Nothing. I was just saying that I think Betty is really cool. Juggy and her make an awesome couple, but like I said she is rarely home and doesn’t really talk about herself a lot” Jellybean explained. 

“Does that bother you?” Charles asked her. Jellybean was still enthralled in the game when she responded to him. 

“Not really.” Jellybean answered succinctly and then turned to look over at Charles who was now starting to play the game. “Does it bother you?” Jellybean decided to ask him in return. 

Charles could honestly say that it did bother him. He would just never saw it allowed to anyone else. Charles shook his head no at Jellybean and returned his focus to the game. After an hour of playing together, Jellybean was ready to head upstairs for the night so that she could call her mother and then a friend of hers from school. They had both gotten to know each other and Jellybean could not deny that while she hated the idea of having a babysitter, she did really like Charles. 

“Hey Charles…I just wanted to say thanks” Jellybean started as she was making her way upstairs, “it was a lot of fun playing with you. I know I’m not Betty, but-“ 

“But what?” Charles asked interrupting her. “I don’t want you to be Betty” he added softly. 

“I know that. It’s just that…I know you like to hang out with Betty. It’s cause you guys have so much in common” Jellybean said. 

Charles was shocked by Jellybean’s honesty. He had never meant to hurt Jellybean. He hadn’t even realized that his “preference” for spending time with Betty had become obvious to everyone in the family. It wasn’t that Charles “preferred” or even liked Betty more than the other new-found members of his family, but he did have an undeniable connection with Betty. Betty certainly liked to pretend she didn’t see her similarities with Charles, but he, evidently Jellybean, and everyone else could see it. Charles did care for Jellybean regardless of not knowing her as much as Jug or Betty. However, he certainly felt the same familial stirrings he had started to feel towards Betty during their time together taking down the Farm and saving Alice. 

It was a combination of admiration and protectiveness. It especially hurt Charles that Jellybean had felt like she was inadequate compared to Betty. Charles could understand where she would be coming from considering both of her brothers seemed to be more consumed with Betty’s company. 

“Hey,” Charles said as he approached her on the staircase, “I think you are great. I think you are so funny and so cool, and I know we haven’t spent a ton of time together, but that isn’t because you aren’t…Betty. Betty and I were just able to bond over our shared goal of trying to save Alice and take down Edgar Evernever and his Farm. Sure, we both have really similar interests and perhaps even some shared characteristics, but that does not mean that she is the only sister I care about” Charles told her gently but firmly. 

Charles realized it was the first time he had ever acknowledged a familial title out loud to one of his siblings. Calling Jellybean his sister. Charles had been referring to his half-siblings as his “brother” and “sisters” in his mind for a long time, but he never had the courage to actually say it out loud. Much less refer to them as such in front of them. Charles had been waiting on the cues he was getting from his family. 

Alice had been constantly referring to him as her son, but Charles was in no way prepared to call her “mom” yet. FP had never actually called him “son”, but their relationship had been developing positively. Charles also doubted he would be calling FP “dad” anytime soon, but still made good progress. Jughead had fondly given him the nickname “Chuck” which Charles didn’t hate. Charles and Jughead had spent some time together on the weekends whenever Alice and FP invited him over for brunch and Jughead had come into town. Usually, Betty would make herself scarce during their interactions. Betty still had her guard up. Fortunately, she was warming up to him and she had even called him her “brother” as a way of conveying their familial tie to her friends. Although, Charles thought that there was a clear divide between his family making introductions for him and really embracing him as their son and brother.

It was in this moment, that Charles felt that Jellybean was really embracing him. Charles hadn’t done much to earn it from her, but he was grateful that Jellybean gave him the tiniest indication that she valued his company. 

“Thanks Charles. I’ll see you soon?” Jellybean asked as she walked up a couple more steps, but looked down at Charles for an answer. 

“Absolutely. We’ll have to do this again. Hang out, I mean, not babysit” Charles added with a little smirk at Jellybean who smiled at him graciously in response. 

Not too long after his moment with Jellybean, Charles had a moment with Jughead. It was the second time he had used a familial title out loud, but first time he had called Jughead his “brother”. It was after Halloween when Charles had gone to help Betty track down the prank caller. While, Jughead could never have guessed that it wasn’t dumb luck that had brought Charles to Betty’s house that night, he certainly appreciated the outcome none the less. During one of the Sunday brunches after Betty had made herself scarce, Jughead had pulled Charles aside. 

“Hey, uh…Chuck. I just wanted to uh…well, not thank you per se, but I really appreciate you being there for Betty on Halloween. I would have been there, but obviously my classmates made other plans for me that night” Jughead said with an eye roll. 

Charles had not been expecting Jughead to thank him for what Charles had felt was his inherent duty to do. Betty was his sister, and she had needed help, so he helped her. It was as simple as that. Charles had felt his fingers clenching into his palm. Charles was trying to understand what he found so displeasing about Jughead’s comment. Perhaps it was the way that Jughead had made Charles feel like he was a spare or backup. Like, if Jughead had shown up that night, he and only he would have been able to help Betty. Charles didn’t believe that Jughead would have been able to help Betty the way that he had for even a second. Jughead didn’t have access to the kinds of technology that the FBI did. There was no way that Jughead and Betty would have deducted that Polly had been the one torturing Betty with the phone calls if it wasn’t for Charles ability to track phone calls to their source. 

“Well, it was certainly fortunate that I decided to drop by with some pizza. Besides, I’ll always be around if Betty needs me. Or you” Charles added subtly. 

Jughead seemed to take in what Charles said and nodded his head in understanding. “I appreciate that Chuck. Strange things happen in this town. Betty and I can usually handle ourselves, but it doesn’t hurt to have a brother like you around” Jughead said almost nonchalantly. Jughead hadn’t even realized that it was the first time he had called Charles his brother, but Charles noticed right away. 

Charles could not help but respond to Jughead with “Well, what are brothers for if not for the perks?”. Jughead gave him a smile that indicated that he thought the statement was very true. 

Charles smiled back at Jughead and they both had returned back to their family to say goodbyes. As always, Betty had just said “see ya, Charles” and gave him an awkward pat on the back. Charles had thankfully not learned the hard way that Betty wasn’t big on hugs. He had always wanted to open his arms to her, but she had never indicated she wanted to hug him goodbye or hello. Charles didn’t mind, except when he saw her hug everybody else. It always made him feel out of place. 

Which reminded him of one of the most awkward nights of his life. Riverdale High’s Variety Show presented by La Bonne Nuit.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> SPOILERS FOR LATEST EPISODES OF RIVERDALE
> 
> Holy Shit. That musical episode. Holy shit. Betty and Archie man. What the fuck is gonna happen now? There is no going back. It happened. 
> 
> Anyways, still no lead on what exactly Charles is up too in this new episode. 
> 
> I OWN NOTHING AS ALWAYS. NOT PLOT OR CHARACTERS OR ANYTHING. 
> 
> Also, to clear up the timeline of when Chic was released from prison. In the timeline of show, Chic has not been released. I am kind of jumping back and forth between moments in the show and moments that are happening between everything and after Chic is released. So, as of the musical episode and this chapter, Chic is still in prison. However, at the beginning of previous chapter you got a look at what Charles and Chic’s life is like soon after Chic’s release. So, the moment that happened at the beginning of the last chapter happened after the musical episode. 
> 
> A lot of my writing style is more of what Charles is thinking during interactions with his family that I create and some of the interactions we actually see in the show.

It was the night of the Riverdale High’s variety show that was being presented by La Bonne Nuit. Charles had been at work all day going through the tapes related to Riverdale mystery voyeur as Jughead would say. Charles could not help but continue to note everyday how problematic of a town Riverdale was for being so small. 

Alice had offered to make dinner for everybody before their performance. So, Kevin, Archie, Veronica, along with Betty, Jughead, Jellybean, and Charles, all showed up at the Cooper-Jones-Smith Household for dinner that night. It had been a lively event, but Charles could not help but notice something was off. He was an FBI detective after all. He was pretty capable at reading the room. 

Though, Charles had to concede that things had been off for sometime. Jughead had asked Charles to lie to Betty about the extra time Jughead was spending helping him out with the tapes. When Jughead had asked Charles to keep his extracurricular activity on the “DL”, Charles immediately knew Jughead was really only talking about Betty. 

Charles couldn’t lie to Betty. He didn’t want to lie to her. Of course, Charles understood that he, himself had been lying to her. About a lot of things. About Chic. However, if Betty were to turn to Charles and ask him what her boyfriend, and his brother, was doing behind her back, Charles doubted he would be able to lie to her. Charles was in the worst possible position he could have imagined for himself. 

His brother was asking him to lie to his sister. Did he lie for his brother and to his sister, or did he tell his already very cautiously trusting sister the simple truth about Jughead’s extracurricular activities? Charles was quick to think of a politically correct response. 

“How about this? I won’t say anything unless she asks me about it”. It was honestly the best Charles could offer up. Charles could keep his mouth shut, but if Betty turned to him, Charles wouldn’t deny her the truth. He wanted her trust. If Betty caught Charles lying to her on behalf of Jughead, it would set their relationship miles back. Besides, Betty deserved better than being lied to by her brother and her boyfriend. Again, that didn’t mean Charles had kept his own secrets hidden from Betty, but it wasn’t his job to cover Jughead’s secrets from her too. 

Charles wondered if telling Jughead, in so many words, that he would only keep his secret unless Betty asked him was giving his loyalty away? Charles didn’t feel like he was more loyal to Betty than Jughead, but his answer certainly made him feel like he was. Charles could lie to Betty. But he wasn’t going to do it for the sake of Jughead. Even though Jughead was just as much his brother as Betty was his sister. 

Charles realized that it wasn’t entirely his loyalty to either Jughead or Betty that prevented him from giving Jughead his absolute discretion. It was because Jughead was lying to Betty, and if Betty found out, she was going to be pissed. Charles wasn’t keen on actively protecting the relationship that Jughead and Betty shared. Charles would’nt be remiss if Betty and Jughead broke up. So, if Betty caught Jug in a lie, it would likely cause a fracture in their relationship. Perhaps not a breakup. But it would certainly put a dent on their relationship, and Charles couldn’t complain about that. 

However, Charles did have to consider if Jughead and Betty breaking was in his and the family’s best interest? It was a million dollar question that Charles had yet to fully think through. If Betty and Jughead chose to be together, till death do they part, Charles would have to live with their relationship for the rest of his life. No matter how many times Charles reasonably acknowledged that there was nothing taboo about Jughead and Betty being married, he hated thinking about it. Charles was the only one in a taboo position. He was the only one in the cursed position of sharing two siblings that could easily end up married together. 

However, Charles also had to consider the alternative. Jughead and Betty breaking up. He wouldn’t mind it. But, would they ever be able to be friends again if they breakup wasn’t amicable? It wouldn’t end amicable if Betty was pissed at Jughead for keeping secrets from her. So, what what if it ended so badly, Betty and Jughead chose to never speak to one another again? The family that Charles so desperately wanted to cultivate would be ripped apart. Charles could admit that was an even worse future, than the one where Betty and Jughead got married. 

The best outcome that Charles could picture for his family was the one where Betty and Jughead ended up with other people, and they didn’t hate each other because of it. Charles could be with Chic, and Betty, Alice, and everyone didn’t hate Charles because of it. FP and Alice could end up together. Jellybean would be there. Even Polly. All of them would make up a simple, normal, and healthy family. 

Though, Charles knew that was just an impossible fantasy. They would never be a normal family. Charles would never be healthy. Neither would Betty, Polly, or even Chic. His family, as beautiful, brilliant, and interesting as they were, were in fact all very messed up people in individual ways. 

Jughead expressed his thanks for Charles promise of half-assed fidelity and went on his way. A while after Jughead had left he received a phone call. It was the prison. Which meant it was Chic. 

“Hello?” Charles asked after he accepted the call and the fees that went with speaking to someone in prison. 

“Baby, I’m getting out.” Chic responded. Charles stomach twisted with mixed emotions of excitement, fear, nervousness. It had been so long since he had been able to touch Chic. It his inconspicuous visits to Chic had been few and far between with how busy Charles had been with helping Betty and Jughead with the preppies. 

“When?” Charles asked breathily. 

“Soon. I don’t have a date yet. But it won’t be much longer till we can be together again.” Chic responded. 

Charles found himself sitting down clutching the phone to his ear. He would finally be able to be with Chic. But what about his family? What about Betty? Things had been going so well after everything that had happened. Betty had reached out to him, and Charles could tell that Betty was really coming around. He had finally had his moment with her. 

After everything with the preppies, Charles had been filling out paperwork long after most of his colleagues had gone home when he heard a knock on his office door. He had looked up and seen Betty. Just Betty. He had been startled and confused by her showing up at the office. She usually came during the day with Kevin or Jughead. She had never shown up alone after hours. 

“Betty? What are you doing here?” Charles asked. Betty slowly approached him with her hands connected in front of her as if she was nervous to be with him or at least in front of him. 

“Hey Charles…I just wanted to come here to personally…thank you. Like, properly thank you for everything. You helped save Jugheads life. You switched the rocks behind FP’s back and bought us time. You helped us come up with a plan to take down the preppies that not only saved Jughead, but saved me too.” Betty started. 

To say that Charles was shocked by Betty’s confession would be an understatement. Betty had proven herself to be guarded, and often thanked him, but never as sincerely as she was in that moment. 

“I probably would have gone to jail and continued to believe that I was the one to hurt Jughead if you hadn’t helped me. You risked a lot for me. You didn’t have to help me cover up Jughead’s injury, but you did. For all you knew, I was the one to hurt Jughead. I just wanted you to know that you were the first person I thought of to call when Jughead was injured. Because…I knew you would help me, and there isn’t a lot of people I know or trust enough to help me in the way that you did” Betty continued. 

Charles was speechless, because it was true. He had put his neck on the line with his job and his relationship with FP. He had lied for her. He had tampered with evidence for her. It had only been for her sake. She was the logical murder suspect, and he had chosen to take her side. Charles had never considered that Betty would even recognize herself the position that she had put him in by asking him for help. 

“So, thank you Charles…I don’t know what I would have done without your resources, guidance, and help. Honestly…I don’t even know why you would help me.” Betty finished looking at the floor awkwardly. 

“Because you’re my sister.” Charles immediately responded. Betty immediately looked up and into Charles eyes with a look of shock. It was clear that Betty hadn’t anticipated such a simple explanation for Charles actions. 

Before Betty could respond, Charles continued with “Listen, Betty. I told you the truth back on Halloween. I want to be a part of a family. We are cut from the same cloth. Betty, I would do anything you asked me to do within my ability to do so, simply because I’m your brother and you’re my sister. I’ve been trying to show you that since October. Since we first met. You are an incredible woman, Betty. You are a smart, talented, and intuitive. I want you to be the best that you can be and hone in your abilities towards something good. Because I know you are good. We both are. But, we can’t deny there is a part of ourselves that is so wicked and vile that hurting the ones we love isn’t out of the realm of possibility. The difference between us and them, the serial killers, your father, is the fact that we exercise discipline and control. I’ve seen you Betty. I’ve seen how you respond under pressure. I’ve seen how you get when you are determined to protect the people you love most in the world. Alice. Jughead. You are absolutely vengeful…but so am I. I don’t let anyone hurt the people I care most about. That includes you and the rest of our family” Charles said with conviction. 

Betty continued to look at him with shocked eyes. Charles could not believe he said that to her. What the fuck was Charles thinking? Did he just seriously tell her that they were both serial killers walking a very fine line? Yeah, yeah he had just said that to out loud. Charles looked calm, but inside he felt like he had just made a big error. 

Betty finally relaxed her stance after a moment. Charles could see her silently processing what he had just said to her as she looked down. Finally she looked up at him with a face that Charles could not read, and gave him a small smile. 

“You get me, Charles. Which makes you dangerous. I don’t trust people very easily. Especially after everything with my father. Not to mention, that ex of yours, Chic…among the other shady adults that reside in Riverdale. So, don’t take the little trust I’ve chosen to give you for granted. You’ve done everything right. Helped me every single time. But, you claim to know me so well, because I remind you of yourself. We are both so good at hiding our ugliest selves from everyone. But we can’t hide from each other Charles. So, if you ever cross me, or OUR family…I will take you down. Easily.” Betty responded. 

Charles probably should have been upset by Betty’s threat. But he wasn’t. Betty was right. Betty and Charles could see right through each other. Sure, Betty hadn’t uncovered all secrets. Certainly, she hadn’t found out about his reconciliation with Chic. But Charles couldn’t deny that Betty would either end up as his ultimate ally or his ultimate opponent. 

“I wouldn’t expect anything less of you, Betty. Just know, I don’t want to hurt you. Or OUR family” Charles said succinctly. 

Betty had given him a small smile in return and backed out of his office. “Hey, do you need a ride or anything” Charles asked. 

“Oh, I’m good. Thanks though. I’ll see you at the house though. Also, there is this variety show thing happening at Riverdale in a couple weeks and Jughead and I are gonna be performing with some of our friends, and I was wondering if you wanted to come?” Betty asked. 

Charles was truly touched that Betty had extended him the invitation as usually Alice was the one to invite him over for dinner or out at community gatherings. Charles nodded his head and told her that he would be happy to attend their variety show. 

So, after Charles finally reaching an understanding with Betty, regardless of its twisted implications, he now had to deal with the trouble that came with Chic being in his life. Chic was a shit-stirrer and troublemaker and would hate being holed up with Charles in his small one-bedroom apartment. There was no way Charles was going to give up what he had with his new-found family. Chic was going to have to be patient. 

“Baby?” Chic had asked after Charles hadn’t responded to him for a long moment. 

“Yeah?” Charles asked. 

“Aren’t you excited for us to be together again?” Chic asked him with a hint of seductiveness in his voice. Charles was definitely excited at the prospect of actually being with Chic again. Although, Charles was not sure about how he was going to mitigate the damage if Betty or any of his family members found out he was shacking up with Chic. Especially after everything Chic had done to his family. 

“Chic, things have changed since we last talked. I’m not going to give up on Alice or Betty or any of them. I want them too.” Charles said. 

“What about me?” Chic asked with obvious hurt in his voice. 

“I want you. And I want them. Period. You did them dirty, so if you want me Chic…you are gonna do exactly what I tell you to do. Do you understand me?” Charles asked with his most commanding and stern tone. Charles had learned a long time ago that his dominant voice was the only tone of voice that seemed to phase Chic. 

“So, you would pick them over me?” Chic asked him haughtily. 

“If I did, where would you go? Who do you have, Chic? Nobody. You haven’t had anybody since you had me. Sure, you can go just go ahead and keep selling yourself off to the loneliest twinks you can find on the internet or in Riverdale. But we both know you never been as satisfied as you were when I was with you. I let you get away with your cheap tricks in the past, Chic…but not anymore. So, you can either choose to be with me. Or you can go back to living in a grade-A shit hole making other people happy at $50 bucks a pop like the cheap whore you are. But, if you choose me Chic, I’ll say it one more time. You are going to do EXACTLY what I tell you to do. Period.” Charles said with a steely voice. 

Chic was not unaccustomed to the way Charles spoke to him when he was in a nasty temper. Chic also knew that Charles was truly giving him an ultimatum. Although, both Charles and Chic knew that Charles had the upper hand. Chic was in prison and truly had no prospects other than returning to his life as a cam slut for cash in some rundown shit hole. 

“What’s your answer, Chic?” Charles asked after giving Chic a moment to think over his options. 

Finally, after a long moment Chic responded in a soft and resigned voice with “I want to be with you”. 

“I know Babe, and you will be. But you are gonna need to give me some time to clean up the mess you made with MY family. Okay?” Charles asked him calmly. 

“Okay, I have to go now. I’ll let you know my date as soon as I find out” Chic responded. 

“Good.” Charles said turning back to his work on his desk. 

“I love you.” Chic whispered on the other end of the line. Charles smiled softly before he returned the phrase. 

Charles hated being mean to Chic, but he wasn’t some broke 20-year old kid anymore. He worked at the FBI. It would be problem enough at his job that he was dating a convicted criminal, but that didn’t hold a candle to the problem that was his family. Charles was possessive of the things and people he perceived to own. In Charles mind, he owned Chic and he owned Betty. Two people who could not hate each other more. He wanted them both. Charles just had no idea how he was gonna keep them both when Betty found out that he was still in love with Chic. 

A couple of days after he received the phone call from Chic about his release from prison, was the variety show. 

It had been at the dinner before the show that Charles was slowly starting to suspect odd behavior coming from Betty. Charles could read her body language fairly well. She looked guilty. Charles could not imagine what Betty could possibly have done to make even her rock hard persona ooze such guilt. Charles had noticed it especially when Betty was standing with Jughead. Every time she looked at him, there was something in her eyes. A sort of sadness. Charles tried to read if Jughead was feeling the same way towards Betty, but he didn’t have same essence around him. He was oblivious, almost happy about something whereas Betty looked ill. 

Then, while he standing with Jellybean talking he saw it. He saw Archie Andrews catch Betty’s eye from across the room. Charles couldn’t believe that he managed to catch such subtle yet loud look from two people who were across the room from each other. That was the moment when Betty’s behavior suddenly clicked for Charles. 

Betty had cheated on Jughead with their best friend, Archie Andrews. 

Charles would be lying if said that Betty’s actions surprised him. Charles and Betty share the same darkness. The darkness that compels a good person to do a truly bad thing. Charles hardly blinked an eye when Betty thought she had murdered Jughead. The only difference between that and what she did with Archie was the fact that she was framed by the preppies. Charles could sense that Betty’s collapse in fidelity towards Jughead was in fact completely of her own doing. 

Charles knew it was a sick thought, but he immediately considered in what ways he could capitalize on knowing about Betty’s poor decision making for his own personal benefit. He wouldn’t threaten her. He wouldn’t expose her. No, he had to play his cards right. He couldn’t show his hand to Betty before Charles was damn well good and ready to.

**Author's Note:**

> Please give feedback if you want another chapter. I'll probably do another one following post-Alice's return from the farm. 
> 
> I like to keep it as canon as possible, but I know nothing about what the show's plans for these characters are. So, I'm just taking it down the...Charles has got issues, but he loves his man, and wants a family.


End file.
